Games: Continuing the coverage from last week's visit to Sony Online Entertainment, here's a rundown of the upcoming Magic the Gathering Tactics for the PS3/PC.

*

Background: I have a hard time imagining that there are people reading THIS blog who have by some strange circumstance never heard of Magic: the Gathering. I mean, it's been a runaway success since 1993 and claims several million players all across the globe. However, in the odd event you have no idea what I'm referring to, it's a collectible Fantasy-themed trading-card game where two (or more) players square off against each other using spells and creatures. For more information, click here.

Sony Online has taken this extremely popular property and now transformed it into something slightly different. Magic the Gathering Tactics still uses the same basic premise of using cards to do battle, but now everything plays out in full 3D using a turn-based, grid-based system similar to what you might find in a standard Strat-RPG.

This is what combat actually looks like.

The Game: This might get a little nerd-intensive. Bear with me.

In Tactics, players start out by making a deck just as they would with the standard card game. The big difference is that now players have an actual avatar and combat happens in maps complete with various pieces of architecture. In the match I saw, two characters were doing battle in a swamp where fallen logs needed to be navigated around, and line of sight had to be taken into account.

That last sentence may have utterly confused Magic players, but let me explain...

Certain rules of Magic have been tweaked and interpreted in ways that make sense for a standard RPG, but have never been seen before in the card game. For example, when a Serra Angel is summoned, she must be navigated around the map and her life does not replenish at the beginning of each round. When Elvish Archers attack an enemy, they must actually be able to see what they are shooting at. Even more mindblowing? There are no Land cards in a player’s deck – Mana (the game’s ‘currency’ used to play cards) is awarded to the player every turn in colors based on the ratio of their cards.

The deckbuilding screen with loads of card info.

It would take a huge amount of time and effort to go into every nuance that's different between the standard game and Tactics, but let me just say that as someone who is more than familiar with the subject material, Sony’s efforts to implement it in a totally different way were extremely interesting and creative. I have a feeling a lot of players are going to be quite shocked when they see how the game has been reworked from top to bottom.

Final Impressions: I haven't played Magic in years, but seeing it in this new context had me seriously considering jumping back in. Taking a card game I've spent a big chunk of my life playing and extrapolating it into a Strat-RPG (one of my favorite genres) is like the old peanut butter/chocolate thing taken to an entirely new level.

*

Other important bits of info:

> Players will be able to buy virtual cards (for real money, of course) as either singles or packs.

> Some cards in Tactics were created especially by Sony for this game, and have never been seen before in any traditional Magic set or expansion.

> Players who want to buy or sell cards will have access to an online bazaar that functions similar to eBay. Player-to-player buying/trading will not be allowed as a way of cutting down on fraud and reducing any potential game-breaking issues.

> There will be a variety of online events take part in, offering a range of prizes and coming in several different formats.

> The game will be free to play (at least on PC) and will offer a basic set of cards and the first campaign for no cost. Additional campaigns and additional cards will (of course!) be available for purchase. At the time of this preview, campaigns were priced at $5 each. The price of cards varied, but the lowest increment was (I believe) thirty cents.

*

That's all the info I have on the game for now. Special thanks to @ThiefOfHearts for contributing some questions, and I'll have further impressions on the game if and when a review beta becomes available.